Blaze King Sirocco 30 vs Kuma Ashwood vs Pacific Energy Summit

[bboyes21]

Ok need help/advice from folks who know wood stoves and have way more experience than I do!

We have a 2500 sq ft space. Its a 1961 built home so not the best insulation but its had a remodel so windows are efficient, walls are modern insulation just not much insulated ceiling or attic space as we have a lot of direct vaulted ceiling. Winter Climate here is typically lows in upper 30's, and highs of around upper 50's and lower 60's.

Our dealers in area are having a hard time getting stock so for now we're limited to BK Sirocco 30, Kuma Ashwood, or PE Summit. Unless we wait a month then we MAY be able to get an Iron Strike Grandview 300.

The BK Sirocco 30 intrigues me as we don't try to keep the house to hot (thermostat usually will sit around 65) so the low and slow seems doable. The long burn times would help my wife when I'm away for work. But it scares me that it lists sq ft range as 1000-2400 and I wonder if it can really do this space properly. It also seems to show a lower BTU than most so that concerns me too. Plus not sure if I should be afraid of a Cat stove as a chimney sweep said to avoid Cays as they will just require more maintenance/replacement

The Kuma seems to have high BTU, decent efficiency and is rated i think for 2800 sq ft. So to me it seems to maybe be better fit for large home. But also has shorter burn time but still decent efficiency.

The PE Summit seems to claim high BTU but has much lower efficiency and short burn time too from what I hear so I'm guessing this is just a more economical option to be considered but not sure if its true value or just lower cost.

Anyhow just not sure honestly about wood stoves so hard to read through burn times, efficiency, sq ft ranges etc and know that I'm comparing apples to apples so figured I'd see if anyone in here knew much about any of these models and could give insight as to good options for our home/climate.

PS Are blower motors worth it? We do have a large 72" ceiling fan fairly close to the stove too.

 

[moresnow]

Welcome to Hearth. You have a rather mild climate that should be taken into consideration. Sounds like you have a better selection than some right now.
Maybe a few pics of the home layout and your thoughts on stove placement will generate some opinions here.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

You mention vaulted ceilings. How much cubic footage are you dealing with? Square footage ratings are based on typical eight foot ceilings.

I spent a long time considering BTU outputs when I was first thinking about stoves for our home in Texas, and some good advice that I got was simply to consider the size of the firebox. The difference between the BK you're considering and the others is that you have more control over a low end of the burn than the others do.

The suggestion to include information about or a sketch of your layout is a helpful one. Our house is designed in such a way that we cannot really effectively heat the entire thing with our fireplace insert, but it has been a wonderful addition to the large common area where we do spend most of our time, and it has lowered our overall heating bills. What heat do you currently use?

A ceiling fan running in reverse will be important for moving heat down from ceilings, so it's good that you already have at least one. I don't have experience with freestanding stoves and blowers, but on the non-flush inserts we've used, the biggest advantage to the blowers that we've seen is that they are helpful for moving air to more distant portions of the house.

There's another member in the south who installed a BK last year, I think. @Tron, do you have some insight about the original post?

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Is this Auburn, WA? How open is the floorplan from where the stove will sit?

Any of these stoves will do the job. Of the 3 the Kuma is a full third smaller in fuel capacity. Specifications are one thing, how the stove is run and the fuel that is burned are another.

 

[bboyes21]

Welcome to Hearth. You have a rather mild climate that should be taken into consideration. Sounds like you have a better selection than some right now.
Maybe a few pics of the home layout and your thoughts on stove placement will generate some opinions here.

Thanks for the info. I dont have a true scale floor plan but that's a great idea so I added a sketch of layout.

I should also note that living, dining and Masterbedroom have about 12' peak vaulted ceiling.

 

[begreen]

All of these stoves will work. The Kuma might need some assistance from the primary heating system during the rare very cold days. If you want KISS, the Summit is a simpler stove.

 

[bboyes21]

You mention vaulted ceilings. How much cubic footage are you dealing with? Square footage ratings are based on typical eight foot ceilings.

I spent a long time considering BTU outputs when I was first thinking about stoves for our home in Texas, and some good advice that I got was simply to consider the size of the firebox. The difference between the BK you're considering and the others is that you have more control over a low end of the burn than the others do.

The suggestion to include information about or a sketch of your layout is a helpful one. Our house is designed in such a way that we cannot really effectively heat the entire thing with our fireplace insert, but it has been a wonderful addition to the large common area where we do spend most of our time, and it has lowered our overall heating bills. What heat do you currently use?

A ceiling fan running in reverse will be important for moving heat down from ceilings, so it's good that you already have at least one. I don't have experience with freestanding stoves and blowers, but on the non-flush inserts we've used, the biggest advantage to the blowers that we've seen is that they are helpful for moving air to more distant portions of the house.

There's another member in the south who installed a BK last year, I think. @Tron, do you have some insight about the original post?

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure of the cubic sq ft but we do have vaulted ceilings in Living room and Master that peak at close to 12' so I'm sure its a big difference. We will also be adding fans in these rooms but haven't yet mounted them but do have a large one mounted in a central area near the stove.

We currently have Central heat but just tired of the cost of propane here and the Electric company. Especially as we have 10 acres and good access to wood too. We also have an old huge masonry fireplace but its completely inefficient and furthest end of house so basically just for ambiance. So this would be great to have as a primary source but it won't be our only option either way. And We actually run the thermostat pretty low anyhow normally and our climate is fairly mild so we don't necessarily need to overpower with heat but just want to be smart about it since this is a long term play.

 

[bboyes21]

Welcome. Is this Auburn, WA? How open is the floorplan from where the stove will sit?

Any of these stoves will do the job. Of the 3 the Kuma is a full third smaller in fuel capacity. Specifications are one thing, how the stove is run and the fuel that is burned are another.

Near Auburn, CA. Stove will sit in what is almost basically an entry way (half wall separating) between all areas of house basically.

 

[Mech e]

We live in the Auburn area as well. We have a late 80s 2700 sqft home with 6" exterior walls and vaulted ceilings. I run a 2.4 cuft stove located near the center of the of all the living areas. It will heat all of the living areas but not the bedrooms (too far away). For sleeping, we do not want the bedrooms too warm.

For your setup and climate, I would think a stove of similar size would work well.

 

[begreen]

Yes, Auburn, CA is much warmer than Auburn, WA. A Pacific Energy Super 27 would suffice.

 

[moresnow]

What is the rectangular area in the middle without description? Definitely have seen worse concepts for stove placement before.

Something to consider is how often you want to tend/reload the stove. It may not be a concern. On the other hand having a model that runs without attention for many many hours is awful appealing if you are out of the house for long stretch's at work. Something to consider.

Having stove blowers is really handy when it does get cold inside. They make a very significant difference in heat distribution.

 

[bboyes21]

What is the rectangular area in the middle without description? Definitely have seen worse concepts for stove placement before.

Something to consider is how often you want to tend/reload the stove. It may not be a concern. On the other hand having a model that runs without attention for many many hours is awful appealing if you are out of the house for long stretch's at work. Something to consider.

Having stove blowers is really handy when it does get cold inside. They make a very significant difference in heat distribution.

That central area is a little divider wall with big opening basically like a breakfast bar separating kitchen.

Yeah longer burn times would be nice as then my wife has to mess with it less when I'm away at work. But as long as its not a constant management I can handle having to add wood a couple times, just dont want to be doing it every few hours or anything.

 

[Highbeam]

Just plan on letting the central heat take over when the fire goes out. Don’t sweat making an unwilling person manage the fire. You can quickly start a new fire when you get home. You don’t have to be 100% wood heat to save tons of money. Every stick of wood burned saved you a bubble of propane.

I live near Auburn WA so like Begreen was going to have to inform you that it gets much colder here!CA is much warmer.

 

[Tron]

Actually, I can contribute to that. I don't know where you're located at, but it seems that our climates are similar. What the people down here call "Winter" is probably "Shoulder Season" to almost everybody else.
Today, for example, we had morning lows of upper 30's, but it will warm to nearly 70 during the day. And that's why I appreciate so much that the BK (I have a Chinook 30, basically the same as the Sirocco besides the design) ran run very low and give consistent heat by doing so. This morning I loaded it up about 1/3 full, and it's been keeping the living area nicely warm until it'll probably drop into the inactive zone sometime late this afternoon, when I don't need the heat anymore.
We installed the stove in late February 2020, so I don't have much experience with it when it does get cold outside, but given that I currently operate it on a very low setting, there's a lot of potential regarding heat output. I did pack it full a few times in the beginning as we had a rather chilly March, and that easily lasted throughout the day. Didn't have to adjust the setting even once.

Our home is a bit like a labyrinth, meaning the heat only spreads slowly through the house and does not reach the bedrooms at all. Which is ok for us, we don't like the bedrooms to be that warm anyway.

I don't have the stove fans, but run a ceiling fan near the stove, not sure about the size but not nearly your 72". So that sound like plenty of air movement. But with every heat source where you really can't distribute the warm air throughout the house, you'll have a temperature gradient away from the stove. Our gas furnace can heat up the house evenly, obviously, as it directly distributes hot air through the vent system. Running the ventilation only does not do much regarding heat transfer, as our attic is not insulated and the return vents are at floor level.

About maintenance: the people here tell me that a cat lasts around 10.000 run hours, so it will be quite a few years until I will need to replace it. We did the chimney sweep ourselves, that was rather easy and did not really yield much of deposits. But then again, it has not been running all that long.

Hope that helps.

 

[Tron]

BTW, our living room also has a high vaulted ceiling, about 15' high. The fan is dropped from that ceiling and at a height of about 9' or so.

 

[bboyes21]

Thanks everyone for the replies and the education! Sadly our dealers in the reasonable surrounding area are impossible left 3 VM's and 2 emails on the Blaze King, and the Summit dealer wants me to come in to get pricing despite being an hour and a half away all while saying she can't promise stock either. Then two others say everything they stock is 6-8 weeks out.

May be forced to pivot and just do an Ashley Hearth thats at the big box store or one of the local Chimney Sweeps has a Droplet Escape 1800.

Who would have thought it could be so difficult to add a decent stove! I guess this is on par for 2020. Ugh.

 

[Highbeam]

I would go drolet 1800 given that choice. Many of us have had the pleasure of swapping stoves as time goes on, this is usually about as difficult as replacing your refrigerator.

 

[bboyes21]

I would go drolet 1800 given that choice. Many of us have had the pleasure of swapping stoves as time goes on, this is usually about as difficult as replacing your refrigerator.

Yeah leaning towards Drolet if I dont hear back from any dealers by mid-morning. The local big box has a cheap US Stove for $800 almost just did that as a temporary fix hoping that maybe down the road we can then get something nicer and at least I guess take solace in going easy on the wallet during this Covid mess for now.

 

[begreen]

Second vote for the Drolet. Not sure, but I think the Ashley may be made in China as are some other US Stoves.

 

[Highbeam]

And the drolet company is in Canada with a reputation of good customer service and products.

 

[moresnow]

Another Drolet supporter here.

 

[Vmaxer]

@bboyes21 I live somewhat close by.
I was trying to get a hold of a Kuma stove, none of the dealers in like 80 mile radius didn't have any or wouldn't even give me a quote.
Did you have any luck with that?

Gracias.

 

[begreen]

Have you called or emailed Kuma for the nearest dealer location? Or the option of buying direct?

 

[Vmaxer]

Have you called or emailed Kuma for the nearest dealer location? Or the option of buying direct?

Yes and Yes. I gave up. I'll probably buy a stove from TSC.

 

[begreen]

Yes and Yes. I gave up. I'll probably buy a stove from TSC.

Sorry to hear that. Did they not respond or no dealers in your area? @kuma.jason
TSC has mostly US Stoves (not made in the US) and the US made Buck 74. How large an area are you trying to heat with a stove. Is this for 24/7 heating or more for nights and weekend chill chasing.